Judge Chutkan won't pause her gag order while Trump appeals
Politico reports that Judge Tanya Chutkan will not pause her gag order while Donald Trump is appealing it.
Reporter Kyle Cheney posted the update on social media Sunday, explaining there was a temporary hold on it while motions were filed. Now, it's gone, putting Trump back under the gag. ABC News reporter Katherine Faulders also confirmed the report.
As legal analyst Allison Gill said last week, Trump's comments on Sidney Powell and Michael Flynn would normally violate the gag order if they were witnesses to the Justice Department. Instead, that gag order was paused.
Chutkan oversees the 2020 election federal case that Trump was charged with over the summer.
The same could be said for Donald Trump's attack on Mark Meadows, who made an immunity deal with special counsel Jack Smith. While it hasn't been reported that Meadows made a cooperation agreement or a plea deal with Smith, Trump isn't happy and made his own veiled threats.
It was after the incident that Smith asked Judge Chutkan to reinstate the gag order because Trump was using the pause to attack witnesses.
Specifically, Smith urged Chutkan to “modify the defendant’s conditions of release by making compliance with the Order a condition or by clarifying that the existing condition barring communication with witnesses about the facts of the case includes indirect messages to witnesses made publicly on social media or in speeches.”
See the docket entry below: